MFY
Legal Services, Inc.’s Mental Health Law Project provides free
legal services to people with mental illness who live in New York
City, including advice, brief service and full representation on a
variety of civil legal issues. The project’s focus is to help
people with mental illness continue to live and thrive in their
communities. As a result, MFY attorneys are part of the battle to
preserve affordable housing for all low-income New Yorkers.In
a recent pilot program, MFY has partnered with the Center for Court
Innovation to establish a legal clinic for people with mental illness
at the Harlem Community Justice Center community court in East Harlem
(“HCJC”). Unlike other housing courts, HCJC is a community court
aimed at preserving and empowering the East Harlem community. The
court acts as a family court and housing court. It also provides
community programs to reduce youth crime and improve school
attendance, amongst other things.

East
Harlem is undergoing rapid gentrification. Construction of
market-rate housing is underway and some East Harlem landlords are
targeting rent-regulated apartments. Once emptied, the landlords can
rent the apartment at a higher rent. As a result, many landlords
bring baseless lawsuits with the hope that tenants do not show up to
court and then get default judgments of eviction against them, or
pressure unrepresented tenants who do appear in court into
unfavorable settlements.

Additionally,
the New York City Housing Authority (“NYCHA”) has a number of
East Harlem public housing projects and is in housing court as a
landlord, bringing nonpayment of rent cases, often based on incorrect
rent calculations. The housing court’s docket also has a number of
repairs cases brought by tenants against NYCHA. For example, tenants
file repairs cases if NYCHA fails to address bedbug infestations, or
paints over mold rather than treat the underlying condition. These
cases are important because substandard apartment conditions can
exacerbate psychiatric symptoms and/or cause physical illness.

The
HCJC provides targeted eviction prevention assistance through its
Help Center (the “HCJC Help Center” or “Center”). All New
York City housing courts have help centers for tenants. However, the
HCJC Help Center is operated by the Center for Court Innovation and
is slightly different from other help centers. It is staffed by a
dedicated team of professionals to provide tenants with additional
assistance. This additional assistance includes a center coordinator
who meets with tenants and makes referrals to appropriate agencies.
The Center also has a Human Resources Administration (“HRA”)
representative to help eligible tenants with arrears assistance.

The
idea for the legal clinic came from a realization that there was an
unmet need to assist unrepresented tenants with mental illness. Some
of these tenants receive services from an agency called Adult
Protective Services (“APS”). APS provides social services to
senior citizens and people with disabilities. When a case is referred
to APS in housing court, the tenant is evaluated by APS to determine
eligibility. APS sometimes recommends a guardian ad
litem
(“GAL”) when the tenant cannot adequately defend or protect her
rights. The GAL reviews settlement agreements, appears in court,
negotiates with landlords’ attorneys, and applies for grants to pay
arrears.

However,
the HCJC Help Center noticed that many tenants with mental illness
were never referred to APS. If they were referred, they were found
ineligible to receive services and the assistance of a GAL.
Even for those who were eligible, a GAL is not the same thing as
having an attorney. The
staff at HCJC Help Center identified this gap and therefore
established a legal clinic staffed by MFY attorneys.

An
MFY attorney meets with tenants in the East Harlem housing court
twice a month. The initiative has helped ease the stress of housing
court cases on low-income tenants with disabilities by providing
immediate and easy access to an attorney. A court-based attorney
makes it easier for tenants to stay in communication with the
attorney. A tenant can make an appointment or come by after her court
date when the details are still fresh in her mind. Clients can tell
family members, caseworkers or home health aides to drop off
documents for MFY at the Center because it is a short walk from their
home.Additionally,
the MFY attorney can track landlords that target rent-regulated
tenants, make NYCHA tenants aware of recent lawsuits that affect
their rights, and build relationships with court personnel.

Following
is a typical example of the types of cases we see. A notorious
landlord brought a nonpayment of rent proceeding against Ms. N. Ms. N
was struggling with depressive symptoms and never showed up to court.
The landlord got a judgment and evicted her family. She requested
emergency relief from the court and got a two-week extension to pay
the arrears in order to be restored to the apartment, during which
time the landlord was prohibited from renting out Ms. N’s
apartment. The short timeframe was overwhelming, especially since Ms.
N and her three children were in a shelter and it would be difficult
for her to negotiate the various bureaucracies necessary to obtain
the back rent. She was terrified she would not regain the apartment
her family had lived in for twenty years.

Ms.
N, a NYCHA Section 8 recipient, had tried to apply for a grant from
HRA to pay the arrears. To qualify, she had to show she could afford
the rent. The
problem was that she received a NYCHA termination notice because she
had not renewed her Section 8 voucher. HRA told Ms. N that they would
not give her a grant because she could not afford the rent without a
valid Section 8 voucher.

MFY
took the case and reviewed Ms. N’s notices from NYCHA. Her Section
8 voucher was still valid because of a grace period. We provided
proof of the valid voucher and her income and applied for an HRA
grant. With our advocacy, HRA processed and approved her grant in one
business day. We also helped Ms. N renew her Section 8 voucher. Ms. N
and her family safely returned to their home.

As
the initiative progresses, MFY will continue to represent tenants
with mental illness to maintain their housing, get repairs in their
apartments, provide community trainings about relevant issues and
work with the HCJC Help Center to empower tenants with mental illness
so they may remain in their community.

Note:
The MFY legal clinic is for tenants with a mental illness who have
housing court cases in Harlem Community Justice Center. This housing
court serves tenants who reside in apartments located in 10035 and
10037, all tenants from NYCHA Projects located in 10029, and tenants
from NYCHA's rehab projects located in 10026. The Help Center should
be able to schedule appointments for legal clinic or the tenant can
drop by the Help Center in the courthouse to set up an appointment.
The Help Center phone number is 212-360-8752.

Pullout:
“The
initiative has helped...by providing immediate and easy access to an
attorney...[who] can track landlords that target rent-regulated
tenants, make NYCHA tenants aware of recent lawsuits that affect
their rights, and build relationships with court personnel.”